AudioBoom: Blogging Cool Tool of the Week

Are you a business professional that knows you need to blog, but quite frankly don’t have the time? Or maybe you are the business professional that that struggles to write content– after all you’re a business person not a journalist.

Sadly, you guys are the experts in your field and, very often, it is your knowledge and opinion that an existing and/or potential customer wants to hear. So getting your administration or even marketing team to produce bland and sometimes even confused content isn’t going to cut it with your target audience.

Hmmm….sounds like a bit of a catch 22 to me. Well let me give you one possible solution that will allow you to create “valuable” content no matter how busy that schedule becomes………

What is AudioBoom?

AudioBoom allows you to record and upload audio that is effortless to share on the web. You can craft a quick audio clip on your smartphone (through the audioboom app) or sitting at your desk with that fancy new microphone you just bought. You can even upload an existing audio file to AudioBoom for effortless social media distribution.

Quick Tip – If you are recording a lot of audio content from your pc or mac, a good quality microphone is a good investment and it does not have to break the bank – I would recommend theSnowball mic, which will set you back approximately €70 on Amazon or at the Apple Store.

How to use AudioBoom?

The free version allows you create and upload audio up to 10 minutes in length.

AudioBoom allows you record or even upload an existing audio file.

When you have uploaded or recorded your first audio podcast. You will be given an option to listen to it before hitting the save button. Don’t like your work? No problem just hit the delete button.

Once you have saved your audio you will need to add a photo or visual, give your audio a title and write a brief text description. NB. AudioBoom supports hashtags, so where applicable add them to your description.

Once you have this down and selected the relevant category that your audio relates to; hit the publish button.

Add an image and description to your AudioBoom podcast.

Once your audio is produced now is the time to tell the world. When you click into your post you have an option to share your audio on social media – Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Pinterest , LinkedIn or even share to targeted email contacts.

Not only can you share from here, but you can grab the embed code and display your podcast on your website or blog.

Other features here include generating a QR code (remember them?) for your podcast, downloading your audio and even saving the podcast to your iTunes account.

Share your audio on your Social Networks and embed audio on your website or blog.

Once you start creating lots of content AudioBoom allows you to organize and display them into different playlists.

Benefits of a Paid Account

The Plus Account (paid version) offers you the ability to create audio up to 60 minutes in length, has enhanced social sharing functionality, including the ability to share audio directly to your Facebook business page and possibly the biggest carrot; iTunes integration. So AudioBoom’s Plus account may be a good option if trying to create a weekly iTunes Podcast show.

So ‘how much is the paid version?’ I hear you impatiently say – In GB pounds £6.99 per month or £60 per year. So that is approximately - €10 per month or €85 per year. More details here – https://audioboom.com/about/upgrade

Other AudioBoom Features

AudioBoom allows you to “Follow” other people’s AudioBoom accounts, search for podcasts that interest you and even buy audio books.

In return, other AudioBoom accounts can “Follow” you. This means that your podcasts will show up in their AudioBoom feed. A big company that is using AudioBoom is Sky Sports. They have created 40+ accounts segmented by sport. Their main channel however has only 222 followers. So while they are creating audio here the consumption of their audio is happening on their websites, apps and social media accounts. In fact their podcasts have over 19 million listens.

Not many AudioBoom followers, but the Sky Sports podcasts have had over 19 million listens

These are great features and may have some use to you guys, but when it comes to AudioBoom I believe it’s main value is creating great audio content and distributing it elsewhere.

How AudioBoom can help a busy professional?

So how can AudioBoom help the busy business professional who lacks the writing flair of a journalist?

Well if you have the knowledge and another staff member has the writing flair. Collaborate, organize and agree your content topics and add them to your Content calendar.

Record your thoughts via AudioBoom on your phone or pc and send the recording to your designated content writer. Let that person craft a well written and seo optimized blog post with great images. I would also suggest embedding the audio into your post as a podcast, so the viewers has choice of how they would like to consume your post.

If you have a plan and know what you are going to talk about that 5 minutes in the office waiting for a client to show up can be all the time you need to create some great content. An insightful podcast by a business owner talking with real passion can be a very valuable thing.

3 Simple Content Ideas for using AudioBoom

Use your phone to record audio customer/client testimonials on AudioBoom.

Grab quick interviews from peers at conferences and business events.

Keep customers updated with all the latest news by creating a weekly or monthly news bulletin. For example if you were a Recruitment firm you may want to produce a weekly 3-5 minute podcast showcasing the latest “hot” jobs, positive career news and even provide info on 3rd party job seeking events.

There seems to be a real appetite for podcasts at the minute, so now maybe a good time to give your content some “Voice”.

Reading this article on AudioBoom, but now curious about the MeerKat App? Here are my thoughts.

If you are already embracing audio as part of your content strategy we would love to listen to your thoughts. Drop us a comment below and don’t forget to leave a link to your podcast.

An International Social Media trainer delivering regular LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google+ and Social Business Strategy training and workshops for institutions such as the Digital Marketing Institute, Sure Skills and the Digital Skills Academy.
In 2014 I have worked with top multinationals including: Ulster Bank, Microsoft, UPC and Coca Cola Hellenic.
Alongside training I work as a Social Business Consultant. I believe that in order to make social media work for your business you must have a clear business goal, a clearly defined strategy and make sure that everything you do is measurable.